The marketing of ideas and social issues by seymour h fine

1 THE NATURE OF IDEAS AND SOCIAL ISSUES 12ORIGINATION,MATURATION AND ADOPTION OF IDEAS:AMICROPROCESS 12 FROM PROBLEMS TO SOCIAL ISSUES TO SOCIAL CHANGE:AMACROPROCESS 14 Social Issues and

The Marketing of Ideas and Social

Issues

Seymour H Fine With Foreword by Philip Kotler

Originally Published in 1981 by Praeger Publishers

1 THE NATURE OF IDEAS AND SOCIAL ISSUES 12

ORIGINATION,MATURATION AND ADOPTION OF IDEAS:AMICROPROCESS 12

FROM PROBLEMS TO SOCIAL ISSUES TO SOCIAL CHANGE:AMACROPROCESS 14

Social Issues and Causes 14

SOME CONCEPTS AND THEIR ATTRIBUTES 15

INCREASE IN CONCERN WITH IDEAS 17

From Inner to Other-Directedness 17

Voluntary Simplicity 18

SUMMARY 18

2 A MARKETING APPROACH TO IDEAS: SOCIAL MARKETING 19

MARKETING.19

The Marketing Concept 20

The Marketing Approach As Problem Solving 20

IDEAS AS PRODUCTS:SOCIAL MARKETING 21

Deriving benefits from product offerings 21

The "Scope Broadening" Debate 22

Social Marketing: Two Meanings 23

ABROADENED TYPOLOGY OF PRODUCTS 23

The Typology 24

Implications 27

EXCHANGE TRANSACTIONS IN SOCIAL MARKETING 28

Marketing as Exchange and Exchange as Marketing 28

Information and education dissemination 29

THE EMERGING CONCEPT SECTOR 36

Government, a Special Case 36

Commercial Firms 37

HOW DO THEY MARKET?38

Study Design 38

Results of the Study 39

THE CHANGE AGENT AS IDEA PRODUCER 43

How Many Segments? 47

Criteria for Segmentation 48

PRODUCT STRATEGIES 49

The Product Life Cycle (PLC) 53

The Concept Of A Product Mix: New Product Development 56

PROBLEMS IN STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR SOCIAL PRODUCTS 58

SUMMARY 58

5 BEYOND MONEY: THE CONCEPT OF SOCIAL PRICE 60

PRICE 60

The Monetary And Social Components Of Price 60

FOUR TYPES O F SOCIAL PRICE 61

IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL PRICE IN MARKETING 65

Implications For Further Investigation 65

SUMMARY 65

6 THE COMMUNICATION OF IDEASS 67

AN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 67

Theories of Communication 68

Idea Marketing: A Special Case 69

IDEAS AND GROUPS:THE NEED FOR GROUPS TO ACT 69

A Case in Point: The WCTU 71

THE COMMUNICATION MODEL 71

The Objective of the Communication 71

Communication Effects 72

The Communication's Message 73

Message Design and the Law 74

SUMMARY 74

7 CHANNELS OF DISTRIBUTION IN SOCIAL MARKETING 75

IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY OF CHANNELS 75

Channel Leadership and Control 76

Competition and Conflict 76

CHANNEL STRUCTURE FOR CONCEPTS 77

An action network 77

INTERMEDIARY DISSEMINATORS OF CONCEPTS 78

Mass Media 78

INTERPERSONAL CHANNELS 81

THE CONSUMER'S PLACE IN "PLACE"84

DESIGNING AND ORGANIZING THE CHANNEL 85

SUMMARY 86

8 SOCIAL MARKETING APPLIED: A STRATEGIC PLAN FOR CETA 92

BACKGROUND:WHERE WE ARE NOW 92

OBJECTIVES OF THE PIC:WHERE WE WANT TO GO 93

Participating Firms and Productivity 93

Employment Recruits and Earnability 93

STRATEGIES AND ACTIONS HOW TO GET THERE AND BY WHAT METHODS 93

Market Segmentation 94

PRODUCT STRATEGY 95

Distribution Parties to the Process 97

PRICING STRATEGY FOR THE PRIVATE SECTOR INITIATIVE PROGRAM 99

Promotion 99

SUMMARY 102

9 CONSUMER RESEARCH IN SOCIAL MARKETING 103

IS THERE A"SOCIAL"CONSUMER BEHAVIOR?103

Similarities 104

SYMBIOSIS IN SOCIAL AND TRADITIONAL MARKETING 116

SOCIAL MARKETING:THE ULTIMATE MARKETING 117

FOREWORD

Philip Kotler

We are coming to recognize that there is a marketplace of ideas just as there is a marketplace of goods In this marketplace, purveyors of ideas-lobbyists, publicists, charismatic leaders, change agents-promote ideas to influence the attitudes and behavior of target audiences They use modern channels of communication and distribution to reach their audiences They approach their task from

a variety of perspectives, but rarely a marketing one In this book Seymour Fine describes how ideas and issues can be more effectively disseminated through the use of modern marketing concepts and tools

Marketing ideas goes far beyond their promotion Anyone who wishes to influence others must research the target audience; understand their perceptions, attitudes and needs; develop and test effective communication concepts; and use the most cost-effective distribution channels Ideas, according to Fine, can be managed like any other commodity

Although the suggestion that marketing planning could be applied to ideas and issues was made some years ago, only a few writings have appeared to date

Most are specialized to a particular area of social marketing, such as family planning,

antismoking, or better environment Fine is the first person to write a book on the general principles

of social marketing and he is to be congratulated

The reader will find much stimulating material in this book-a book that shows a high standard of scholarly research and an adept pen The reader will not only emerge convinced of the contributions that a marketing point of view can make to the effective dissemination of ideas but also be sensitized

to the role of the four Ps (product, price, place and promotion) in this endeavor While it is hard to evaluate the first book written on any new subject, I am sure that Fine's work will gain recognition as

a major and enduring contribution

Some readers may be squeamish about "idea marketing," as if it can only be used to persuade people to act against their best interests This is not the philosophical position of social marketing Social marketing is an effective way to promote ideas that serve the best interests of people-better nutrition, physical exercise, conservation, environmental protection-to the point where people might act on what they believe and really want to do True, bad ideas can also be promoted and are being promoted all the time, with or without the aid of modem marketing concepts We have to assume that all ideas enter a marketplace where consumers of ideas are exposed to multiple claims and counterclaims and in the end are intelligent enough to know which ideas best serve their interests

PREFACE

The objective of this work is to investigate meeting grounds where the theory and practice of marketing overlap with processes of dissemination of ideas and social issues The marketing of ideas and issues – concepts is an important process not only to those who are in the business of proposing and diffusing concepts, such as freedom of the press, nudism, consumer cooperatives, or

"Join the Peace Corps." (a more complete list appears in Table 1.1.) It is also useful in the marketing

of conventional goods and services, for which ideas are used in the design of promotional messages

In the very early stages of the work it became apparent that the subject being explored here is nothing more or less than the study of propaganda; the marketing of ideas and social issues is not very different from the spreading of propaganda This realization sent the writer scurrying back to the drawing board wondering whether what was about to be written had already been well covered under the propaganda rubric The danger of reinventing the wheel is always a threat that niggles at the spirit of a writer A computerized search in fact revealed no less than 224 references on the subject of propaganda But a review of that literature led to the conclusion that while propaganda was indeed well covered, none of the writings seemed to approach the topic from a formal marketing viewpoint-the goal of the present work What resulted was a reinforced decision to proceed as though nothing had ever been written on the subject-a zero-based approach The work takes as given the rich fundamental concepts of marketing, examining their applicability to the adoption and

dissemination of ideas and social issues whether or not such processes are, or have ever been, taken

as the spread of propaganda

Another reason for adopting this philosophy is that the word propaganda suffers from pejorative connotation, just as indeed the term marketing occasionally does Propaganda is frequently

associated with politically inspired and malevolent inculcation of ideas into the minds of those

opposing the established order, in other words, brainwashing Webster's New World Dictionary , in

fact , states that the word is "now often used disparagingly to connote deception or distortion " (2nd ed., p 1138) A zero-based approach assumes innocent-till-proved-guilty status for both terms, propaganda and marketing

In assembling material for a book, unless one's scope is delimited in advance, the temptation to digress is difficult to curb The scope here is confined to ideas that stand by themselves as products Considered beyond the area of discourse are those ideas underlying conventional products and that are used in the marketing of those products For example, motorcycle helmets are discussed within the context of highway safety, but safety as an attribute in the marketing of helmets is outside the book's domain

On the other hand, sometimes the relationship between an idea and a product is quite remote and indirect A case in point is that of a shoe producer sponsoring the idea of nature hikes or group walks through historic places The adoption of the idea of walking, while ultimately increasing shoe consumption, is sufficiently independent of the direct promotion of footwear so as to be considered

an idea on its own By contrast, the idea of shoe comfort is a product attribute and is ordinarily included as part of the actual promotion of shoes In this example, the idea of nature hikes is within the scope of this study, while the idea of shoe comfort is not

Moreover, in this book ideas and social issues are differentiated from social change While social change usually results from the dissemination of ideas and issues, it is excluded from this study, except briefly in Chapter one to provide a context for ideas There exists a large and rich body of literature on the subject of social change (for example, Etzioni and Etzioni-Halevy 1973; Zaltman and Duncan 1977) that could not possibly have been enhanced by inclusion of the topic in this study The scope of the book is schematized below:

Scope of the book:

Ideas per se, that is, ideas unrelated to actual products

Social issues and causes (concepts)

Outside the book's scope:

Ideas directly underlying specific products

Social change

At least four classes of readers have been kept in mind:-(l) the college student, looking forward to career formation, who is concerned with the apparent dilemma of reconciling altruistic ideals with current negative myths about the business world; (2) the social cause advocate who is already

marketing ideas and perspectives on social issues and who hopefully will take delight in seeing these activities described in a somewhat structured way; (3) marketers of goods and services who may recognize broader areas for applicability of the tools of their trade; and (4) those involved in pursuits

in which marketing approaches may be usefully introduced for the first time It is hoped that it will prove valuable, too, to students and workers in other fields such as politics, human services and a broad spectrum of institutional endeavors

Part I of this study introduces the notion of an idea sector Its three chapters deal, respectively, with the nature of ideas, the rationale for a marketing approach and sponsors or initiators of ideas In Part II marketing strategy is discussed by following the time-honored four Ps model product, price, promotion and place (channels of distribution) in Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7, respectively Part III presents a real-world application (Chapter 8), then considers consumers of concepts (Chapter 9) and finally market segmentation (in Chapter 10, which, however, was omitted from the electronic edition with no loss of continuity) The promotion chapter introduces the communication model, treating the objective, the message and the effect of a communication The channel, source and receiver of the message are the subjects of Chapters 7, 3 and 9, respectively Throughout, topics are introduced

as they apply to conventional commodities and then transfer is made to the realm of concepts taken

as products

Each of Chapters 3, 9 and 10 contains an empirical study Chapter 3 reports on a survey that was administered to institutions sponsoring ideas Chapter 9 describes another survey whose purpose was to examine consumer behavior in the adoption of ideas The reporting of these studies, for purposes of this volume, has been reduced to the simplest terms and should be entirely

comprehensible to the lay reader By contrast, Chapter 10, highlighting a proposed methodology for market segmentation research, contains a heavy complement of statistical details It may be perused lightly by the reader not accustomed to research jargon, or may be omitted completely (again, it so was from the digital edition)

Ben Enis {1973) pointed out that the marketing literature has been characterized by two classes of scholarship One consists of "extremely provocative and interesting works {that) have been

relatively generalized and abstract." The other is "significant empirical work … insightful and rigorous … (but) specialized and narrow" (p 60) This book attempts to bridge the theory /practice gap, first by postulating concepts such as a presence of an idea sector, then testing those concepts with data and finally presenting a real-world application

I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the many persons who were helpful in this book's preparation I am particularly grateful for valuable insights provided by Russell Belk, William Novelli, Steve Permut, Jagdish Sheth and Gerald Zaltman Susan Barrett, Morris Holbrook and Michael RothschiId read all or portions of the manuscript and offered sage suggestions, as did Charles Nanry who also contributed most of Chapter 6 It would be nice if it were otherwise, but alas, I alone must shoulder the blame for any errors I acknowledge with thanks the indefatigable research assistance of Roberta Goodzeit, Joanne Lattanzio and Sandeep Tungare Typists should be mentioned first, but I accede to tradition and last but not least thank Maureen Greeley and Adele Hartig for their skill at translating hieroglyphics into keyboard miracles

To my wife, Adell, I owe much of my inspiration, particularly in regard to humanistic and

altruistic ideas I here express my deepest appreciation for her constant encouragement and patience during the long periods of time during which the project abstracted me from our otherwise close 32 years together Furthermore it was she who inspired our sons to teach their father that the Fine home should be a free marketplace for all sorts of ideas My wife also set an example for us to become a

socially conscious family; Paul followed his mother into social work, Michael is in social medicine, while I chose social marketing

One must meet Philip Kotler as I did, only once, to appreciate his rare combination of warmth and scholarship Yet it is frustrating to have a Kotler in one's discipline! It almost seems as though whenever one wishes to reduce some marketing thought to writing, research reveals that Kotler has already written it and better The present volume is a case in point; social marketing is so clearly his subject that in writing about it one feels intrusive and presumptuous So it is only fitting that this book is respectfully dedicated to Philip Kotler

GLOSSARY

Because words might sometimes take on differing connotations, it is well to begin with a brief glossary of terms associated with ideas as employed in this book

Advertising Nonpersonal promotion of goods, services, or commercial ideas by an identified sponsor

who pays for message delivery

Attitude A predisposition or general orientation toward something, e.g., it is wrong to develop

nuclear energy

Belief The mental acceptance of something as true or real, more basic than an attitude, e.g the

development of nuclear energy will endanger the human race

Diffusion Dispersion or spread of knowledge across a population

Gossip Small talk with or without a known basis in fact

Idea Previous experience collected and organized into a new pattern

Infusion Inculcation, indoctrination or instillation of information into one or more people

Interest A feeling of concern about something

Law Ideas established as enforceable public policy

Lobbying Pressure upon lawmakers by organized effort

Opinion One's view on an impending issue, for example, on which is the better of two alternatives

(nuclear energy should not be developed)

Propaganda Systematic dissemination of ideas to further a cause

Public opinion The aggregate of individual opinion

Public relations or publicity The promotion of rapport, goodwill or image Usually the carrier

(medium) is not paid, nor is the sponsor identified

Rumor Information that is neither substantiated nor refuted, including gossip, grapevine, scuttlebutt

INTRODUCTION

A marketing transaction is one in which some product offering is exchanged for a payment But ideas are also offerings and are exchanged in market like transactions; the dissemination of ideas is a marketing process

Picture a retail shop with all sorts of merchandise on display-cans of tuna fish on the shelves, floor samples of furniture, cameras neatly arranged in showcases, or attractive garments hanging on racks Before arriving at the shop, these goods were designed, manufactured, packaged, wholesaled, delivered and priced At various times information about them was communicated to prospective buyers.ln short, these products were produced and marketed The marketing process culminates in physical transfer of the item from retailer to ultimate user

In another kind of retail establishment the product offering consists of one or more services These are provided, performed, or rendered by the marketer for the benefit of, or directly to, the customer

In this book the reader is asked to consider yet a third category of transactions, different from the exchange of physical goods or rendered services In these exchanges the offering is an idea or a social issue or a cause-a concept Concepts are conceived, initiated, sponsored, advocated,

promulgated, disseminated and adopted by methods that resemble the marketing process Products in this category are intangible and abstract For that reason it is not always easy to imagine them as marketable or as ever being marketed

This book's mission is to assist the reader in stretching his or her imagination to the point where abstract products are seen in essentially the same light as conventional products One important aim

is that advocates of societally beneficial ideas and issues will find new and increased efficacy in their efforts to educate their chosen publics-their target audiences If adopting a marketing

orientation in the dissemination of societally beneficial ideas will facilitate the spread of those ideas, then the purpose of this book will have been well served

Idea dissemination has frequently been referred to as "social marketing.” But social marketing also appears in literature addressing such topics as public policy, consumerism and social

responsibility; it is thus a catch-all phrase Accordingly, a more precise name for the dissemination

of ideas and social issues is "idea marketing" or "concept marketing," and all three of these

expressions will no doubt be seen as the subject becomes more popular All are employed throughout this book

Why market ideas? Why a methodology for treating concepts as products? And why a free marketplace? One can think of at least two alternatives One is that there be no social change at all and no resolution of controversy-hardly a palatable solution Another is that idea adoption be

mandated by government edict But the marketing process offers a more orderly and democratic alternative toward social change than that which comes about from some other possible methods, repression or violence for example To be sure, ideas are transmitted in many ways, such as mores, laws, traditions and so on But in a choice between marketing and coercion it is certainly more consistent with the notion of a free society that an idea be offered to, rather than forced upon, people For a customer enjoys the right of refusal to buy "Free individual choice is a vital protection against tyranny" (Kelman 1965, p 35), or as H G Wells is said to have quipped, "He who raises a fist has run out of ideas.” Because he can be turned down, the marketer must be certain, a priori, that the product will truly benefit the customer, who, if dissatisfied, often has the privilege of going to a competitor the next time

When men have realized that time has upset many fighting faiths, they may come to believe even more than they believe the very foundations of their own conduct that the ultimate good desired is better reached by free trade in ideas-that the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market and that truth is the only ground upon which their wishes

safely can be carried out That at any rate is the theory of our constitution (Oliver Wendell Holmes [

1919) in Abrams v U.S , 250 U.S 616,630)

When diverse factions employ marketing attempts to manipulate public opinion, then individuals may choose which points of view they wish to buy

An inequity lies in the advantage enjoyed by the better endowed faction Such differential

advantage is characteristic of any marketplace, whether for goods or for concepts Yet it is less unethical that a large corporation out-advertises a fledgling firm than that a well-funded candidate, for example, spends more on a campaign than his or her opponent having less resources That question has not been overlooked by the Congress

This book is timely It is difficult to imagine a period in history when restrictions on the spread of ideas have been so relaxed, at least in the United States Government, church and family are as liberal as they have been at virtually any other time Many ideas and issues considered blasphemous only a few decades ago are freely and openly exchanged in the marketplace One witnesses a freer proliferation of concepts as minority groups, women and children are becoming emancipated from their former inferior roles Moreover, as literacy rates rise, the number and concern of participants in idea transmission increase New communication technology facilitates the spread of ideas, good as well as bad, across vast regions on a scale unprecedented in history So it is time for the trade in ideas, as perceived by Holmes, itself to be discussed more freely

It will be argued in these pages that a marketplace does indeed exist for ideas and issues To the various sectors within the economy-private, public, non profit, services-one proposes the addition of

an idea sector, an industry of ideas The idea sector encompasses a large variety of "products" (see Table 1.1) and includes a long list of institutions engaged in the marketing of these products These five sectors are not mutually exclusive, for the exchange of ideas, like services, can fall within the purview of any or all of private, nonprofit and public organizations That is, ideas are fostered by profit-making businesses and the nonprofits, as well as government

The book's chapters are sequenced to suit the reader having little or no familiarity with marketing theory Those with some grounding in the subject might first peruse Chapter 8 which illustrates with

a real-world application the theoretic development of the earlier chapters

1 THE NATURE OF IDEAS AND SOCIAL ISSUES Man is not a circle with a single center; He is an ellipse with two foci Facts are one, ideas are the other Victor Hugo, Les

Miserables, vii

An idea is taken for granted in the scheme of things Someone exclaims, "I've got an idea!" What

is it that he has? From where did he get it? How was it transmitted? How might it spread to others? What will be the effect of the acceptance of the idea? These are some of the questions dealt with in this book In this first chapter the nature of an idea is developed, contextualized and shown to be a most timely topic To pave the way for this book's argument that ideas are exchanged in marketlike transactions, the aim of this chapter is to present an idea as a dynamic and vital entity

An early theory of ideas was postulated by Plato, who saw ideas in two modes or realms of being:

One is the world of phenomena, in space and time, the world of "sights and sounds," as he called it, which is characterized by impermanence and change However, lying behind the world of phenomena

is the world of Ideas or Forms and for Plato this is the true realm of reality In contrast to the phenomenal world, the realm of ideas which is non-patial and non-temporal, is characterized by being permanent, unchanging and eternal (Bryson 1948, p 30)

Thus, long before modern advertising, Plato attached greater importance to ideas than to objects by recognizing that ideas underlie all tangibles: "Things and qualities in the time-space world are more

or less close reflections of the abstract ideas at the heart of a total reality which is thus given more than spatial and temporal dimensions" (Bryson 1948, p 30)

While Plato argued that ideas are real things in themselves, Aristotle took an opposing view Although he agreed that ideas have potential for concreteness, Aristotle believed that they are

ethereal and only become real when actualized into actions or tangible objects The arguments in this book follow Plato Aristotle's ideas, which underlie actual products, are,as stated in the Preface, beyond its scope

John Dewey's How We Think (1910, pp 72-110) and all quotations are from that work Dewey's

essay "The Origin and Nature of Ideas" appears in Appendix A; his central thesis on ideas is

summarized here in the following three key points:

1 An idea originates from the presence and awareness of a felt difficulty, discrepancy, or

problem The problem might appear suddenly or it might arise at some stage in an evolving process Whichever the case, "The situation in which the perplexity occurs, calls up something not

(otherwise) present to the senses.” This "something" is only a suggestion, a suggested solution to the problem:

The suggested conclusion so far as it is not accepted but only tentatively entertained constitutes an idea Synonyms for this are supposition, conjecture, guess, hypothesis and (in elaborate cases) theory

2 The idea is subjected to reasoning, defined as

The process of developing … the implications of any idea with respect to any problem … As an idea

is inferred from given facts, so reasoning sets out from an idea

The state of the observed problem is usually in the form of confused facts Therefore ideas initially inferred are very tentative, wild conjectures, remote suggestions; reasoning is required to shape ideas into beliefs and conclusions

3 Finally, one acquires a belief and draws a conclusion by corroborating, or verifying the

conjectured idea

The reasoning process is a two-way movement from partial, fragmentary and often confused facts

to an idea and then back again to facts (not merely the original facts but also new particulars) The first leg of the trip is heuristic, intuitive, inductive The second leg reinforces, orders and synthesizes the original data by connecting them with one another as well as with additional facts to which the data have brought attention The trip is never back and forth just once, but continuous With each circuit, the original facts and the inferred ideas are strengthened into premises and, in turn, into final beliefs or conclusions {see Figure 1.1)

In Figure 1.1 the downward paths represent inductive discovery or inference of principles based

on observed facts The upward paths are deductive movements in search of verification of those principles with reference to the observations

A simple illustration of the process is seen in the reasoning of a pipe smoker who is

contemplating the idea to cut out the habit He enjoys his pipe but is plagued by cinder damage to clothing, badgering from family members and so forth-a problem Inductively, he infers that to stop smoking would be a good thing to do He tries it out and soon feels some degree of nervousness; he begins to overeat and gains weight Unhappy with the new affliction, he concludes that it might be less damaging to smoke than not to smoke

F R O M P R O B L E M S T O S O C I AL I S S U E S T O S O C I AL C H A N G E : A M A C R O P R O C E S S

Apart from their place in human reasoning, ideas reside in yet another context, the phenomenon

of social change In the reasoning process, an idea stems from a problem directly affecting an

individual But in the realm of social change, it is a societal problem that gives rise to the idea At the individual {micro) level, ideas lead ultimately to conclusions {Figure 1.1 ) Societally, that is,

aggregatively {macro), mass adoption of an idea frequently brings about social change Although social change is outside this book's scope {see Preface), it is mentioned briefly here in order to introduce the notions of social issues and causes, which are indeed within the scope of the book

Social Issues and Causes

Social issues and causes are ideas that are of interest to many individuals within a society They are ideas to begin with, but assume issue status as they spread, or are sufficiently important, by some standard or other, to warrant the attention of many persons A further distinction must be drawn between issues and causes While both can be seen as societal ideas, issues are controversial; causes are generally not One takes a position on an issue, but simply adopts a cause, such as joining a movement Abortion and gun control are issues; the prevention of child abuse and forest fires are causes Yet, for simplicity of exposition in this book, issues and causes will be considered in the same vein; no loss of clarity should result from the merger

On the other hand, ideas are taken as quite distinct from issues and causes An idea occurs to, is conceived by, or is espoused by an individual, while an issue emerges and is diffused within a group;

it is a movement to be fostered, advocated, supported, or suppressed by a group An idea is of

personal interest; an issue or a cause is in the public interest The impulse to adopt an idea, as with most tangibles and services, stems from self-serving motivation But interest in a social issue is motivated by desire to help others as well "With the exception of a few health-oriented social action campaigns (for example, "Stop Smoking"), most social changes advocated are to benefit other persons more than the receiver (of the message)" (Brembeck and Howell 1976, p 340) The

distinction is reminiscent of and parallel to, C Wright Mills' "private troubles vs public issues.” Thus the idea of using seat belts is quite individual until it becomes apparent that widespread

adoption of that idea benefits society as a whole-for example, by easing the strain on hospital

facilities as the number of serious injuries is decreased, by lessening insurance costs and so on-at which point seat-belt use becomes an issue while at the same time remaining an idea Again,

physical fitness is an idea that quickly becomes asocial cause in time of national emergency

So, in terms of group process, ideas frequently become social issues as they "catch on.” Ideas precede and probably induce social change Social cause advocates such as public and not-for-profit institutions are aware of this "bubble-up" process in which the spread of ideas among a great many people often produces the issues that are subsequently espoused by change agents

The adoption of innovative ideas is closely related to the formation of values, attitudes, beliefs, interests, opinions and viewpoints on issues, all of which can, for simplification and present

purposes, be broadly classed as beliefs A belief is a mental acceptance of the validity of an idea It

is the totality of beliefs possessed by an individual-one's "belief system"-that determines the position one takes on an issue, which, in turn, often prompts participation in social action Finally,

implementation of social action brings about social change At the macrolevel, then, the process from societal problems to social change includes ideas, issues and causes

Combining the micro and the macroprocesses, what emerges is the following model:

Problems Reasoning Ideas Beliefs

Social Issues and Causes Social Action

Social Change

The marketer of concepts is to social change what the pharmacist is to human health C M

Arensberg and A H Niehoff (1964) refer to new ideas as the "medicine of social change" (p 6) As Figure 1.1 is a microview depicting the place occupied by ideas in an individual's reasoning process, the macro schema above presents ideas in a broader framework, as precursory to social issues and social change

S O M E C O N C E P T S A N D T H E I R A T T R I B U T E S

The nature of ideas and issues-concepts-is such that they share certain common characteristics and these are taken up in this section But first some popular concepts are listed in Table 1.1 The ideas, causes and issues dealt with in the remainder of this book are drawn from that list Some of its entries are not precisely ideas or issues but rather organizations, for example, the United Way, or tactics, such as VD hot line These departures from strict consistency serve to 111ake the list more consonant with custom and usage The United Way is better known than the concept of volunteerism

or non-government social service; VD is hardly an idea but the hot line is

By no means is Table 1.1 to be considered a complete list of concepts; readers will no doubt find popular ideas and issues that were omitted But it should, at a glance, serve to equip one's

imagination with the breadth of "items" mentioned daily in the media, taken for granted in ordinary conversation and yet to be considered as products in this book

Under the rubric "characteristics of innovations," several writers have isolated and discussed attributes possessed by ideas (They are attributes of ordinary products as well.) These are the

dimensions along which one can measure ideas, the yardsticks to be employed in comparing one idea with another As such, they are analogous to physical characteristics-width, strength, taste, color , durability-by which ordinary products are evaluated They are defined in this section and in Chapter

4 they are used "to position" ideas, that is, to compare them with other ideas with which they are in competition

The following definitions are taken from Everett Rogers and F F Shoemaker (1971):

Relative advantage is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as better than the idea it

supersedes The degree of relative advantage may be measured in economic terms, but often social prestige factors, convenience and satisfaction are also important components It matters little whether the innovation has a great deal of "objective" advantage What does matter is whether the individual perceives the innovation as being advantageous The greater the perceived relative advantage of an innovation, the more rapid its rate of adoption

Compatibility is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as being consistent with the existing

values, past experiences and needs of the receivers An idea that is not compatible with the prevalent values and norms of the social system will not be adopted as rapidly as an innovation that is compatible An example of an incompatible innovation is the use of the IUD (intrauterine contraceptive device) in countries where religious beliefs discourage use of birth control techniques

Complexity is the degree to which an innovation is perceived as difficult to understand and use Some

innovations are readily understood by most members of a social system; others are not and will be adopted more slowly For example, the rhythm method of family planning is relatively complex for most peasant housewives to comprehand because it requires understanding human reporduction and the monthly cycly of ovulation For this reason, attempts to introduce the rhythm method in village India have been much less successful than campaigns to diffuse the loop, a type of IUD, which is a much less complex idea in the eyes of the receiver In general those new ideas requiring little additional learning investment on the part of the receiver will be adopted more rapidly than innovations requiring the adopter to develop new skills and understandings

TABLE1-1 Some Current Ideas and Social Issues

200 mile fishing limits

Fund raising

Gay rights Gun control

Handicapped, employ the

Health maintenance orgs Health, value of

Hiking, walking

Lefthandedness Legalized gambling

Literacy

Littering prevention Mainstreaming

Manpower programs

March of dimes Marriage

Mass transportation

Mental health Metric system

Military recruiting

Minimum wage Motorcycle helmet use

Museums

Nature conservation New york city Nuclear energy

Physical fitness

Poetry Police, support of

Politics

Pollution control Population control

Prayers in schools

Prison reform Product safety

Pta

Recycling wastes Reforestation

Religion

Safety Save the whales

Subsidies, government

Suicide hotline Trade associations

Veteran's rights

Vivisection Voter registration

Wife abuse prevention

Women's rights

Source: Constructed by the author

Trialability is the degree to which an innovation may be experimented with on a limited basis New

ideas which can be tried on the installment plan will generally be adopted more quickly than innovtions which are not divisible Essentially, an innovation that is triable represents less risk to the individual who is considering it

Observability is the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible to others The easier it is

for an individual to see the results of an innovation, the more likely he is to adopt For example, a technical assistance agency in Bolivia introduced a new corn variety in one town Within two years the local demand for the seed far exceeded the supply The farmers were mostly illiterate, but they could easily observe the spectacular results achieved with the new corn and were thus persuaded to adopt In the United States a rat poison that killed rats in their holes diffused very slowly among farmers because its results were not visible (pp 22, 23)

I N C R E AS E I N C O N C E R N W I T H I D E AS

From Inner to Other-Directedness

As a society enters the postindustrial stage of development, personalities change from what David Riesman called inner-directed to other-directed (1950) Emphasis shifts from material to intrinsic concerns, from tangible possessions to ideas This section attempts to substantiate the argument that such a phenomenon is indeed occurring in the United States, for if it is, then the study of concepts takes on added significance

A trend appeared early in the 1970s as a rise in ideological concern became apparent in purchase decisions regarding actual tangibles Highlighting the admixture of materialistic and psychological satisfaction or utility inherent in most goods, Etienne Cracco and Jacques Rostenne argued that "The ratio of physical utilities over purely psychic types is diminishing rather rapidly" (1971, p 32) They described a socio-ecological product whose development strategy "would take into account that quality of life is a substitute for quantity of material welfare" (p 33) Promotion appeals for many products began to emphasize ecological attributes

E B Weiss (1972) observed that a shift in emphasis seemed apparent from taste to nutrition of foods, from texture to flammability of fabrics, from power to safety in automobiles and from suds to pollution factors in cleansers He reported a back-to-nature trend as having "created an enormous boom for flowers and plants and reshaping marketing programs for cosmetics" with Revlon featuring milk treatments, Rubenstein promoting Herbessence cosmetics and Clairol introducing a Herbal Essence shampoo Noting that "The young generation obviously is less interested in possessions per se," he further pointed to increased sales of disposable products

It soon appeared that people were increasingly "buying" nonmaterial products and societal welfare, such as the ideas of physical fitness and pollution control An obvious signal was the trend apparent in the socialization of healthcare services as practices moved from individual, to group, to Health Maintenance Organization and so forth: "An affluent society tends to become less concerned with tangible goods and material possessions It tends to become more interested :c in such thrusts

as ecology and cultural inventories" (Lazer and Kelley 1973, p 489)

In the Foreword to The New State of the Economy (Allvine and Tarpley 1977), Philip Kotler wrote:

Americans will have to pay more attention to resource conservation, social costs and quality-of-life considerations than they have in the past Formerly, we were all happy riding our merry Oldsmobile, mowing our suburban laws, complaining about "ring-around-the collar," eating our meat-and-sweet rich diets and ignoring the poor and the disaffiliated at home and abroad Now we recognize that no suburb is an island, that everyone's fate is connected and that a distant military or political development has the potential for painfully disrupting our sheltered lives (p xiii)

In the book the authors succinctly speak of reformulation of the American Dream such that our society will have “to expect less in order to have more” (p.153)

One might have expected that, as the decade drew to a close, plagued with soaring inflation, people would preoccupy themselves with the acquisition of material things, as indeed was the case in many quarters Yet outside the retail tangibles shops, interest continued in the ideational For example, the futurist Alvin Toffler sees "large numbers of workers (are) involved in moving

intangible symbols and information rather than physical goods" (1980, p 25) Toffler predicts a shift

of many jobs from the plant or office to the home where people can work on and with, intangibles The airwaves and print media abound with examples of the promotion of ideas, providing a seedbed

of altruism upon which social marketing is nourished For example, a radio spot quotes scripture, admonishing that whales were intended to be fruitful and multiply ("Save the Whales" 1979):

The materialistic American dream, while dominant, is not universal Young adults show a concern for the quality of life as well as material success They would like to see a restructuring of social values so as to stress simplicity, independence of technology and conservation in a larger sense (Millstein, in Lovelock and Weinberg 1978, p 287)

Voluntary Simplicity

Closely related to a shift away from materialism is a trend in which individuals depart from complicated lifestyles toward what has been termed "voluntary simplicity" (Leonard-Barton and Rogers 1980) Voluntary simplicity is characterized by enthusiastic participation in backyard vegetable growing, consumer cooperatives, hiking, bicycling, car pooling, nature conservation, family planning, outdoor living and utilization of solar energy Such devotees are likely to be strong supporters of such social issues as prison reform, product safety, reforestation, pollution control, gun control and equal rights As this trend continues, more people will purchase secondhand clothing and knocked-down furniture and will attempt to repair rather than replace defective objects

S U M M AR Y

In this chapter ideas and social issues were defmed, contrasted and then for expository purposes coalesced into single terms, concept or innovation To prepare for their treatment as products, innovations were presented as having certain attributes, a notion to be revisited in Chapter 4 The possibility was explored that Western society might be experiencing a shift in emphasis away from material objects toward the the direction of things more intangible, altruistic and ideational

It is more than half a century since Chief Justice Holmes alluded to a marketplace for a free trade

in ideas Yet as of this writing no structure seems to have been established in which that trade is to occur It is hoped that the marketing treatment of concepts as suggested in these pages will be a start

in that direction the postulation of an idea industry , an idea sector To that end, Chapter 2

introduces the role and function of marketing in the dissemination of innovations

2 A MARKETING APPROACH TO IDEAS: SOCIAL MARKETING

It was pointed out in Chapter 1 that ideas arise out of problem situations This chapter attempts to show that many exchanges of concepts are marketing processes and are therefore, by definition, methods for the resolution of problems This is the marketing approach to ideas The chapter begins with a few "first principles" about marketing as a form of human exchange Next ideas and social issues are introduced as particular types of products and the concept of social marketing is discussed

A typology is developed classifying all "items" that are exchanged and finally a partial list is given

of several transactional processes by which social products are marketed

of these four Ps subsume specific functions, some of which are listed below:

Promotional special events

Public relations, image creation

transaction If any are omitted or even poorly executed, an incomplete and usually ineffective process results

Marketing functions within the four Ps model are generally considered to be within the marketer's control The marketer, can and does, manipulate the amount and direction of resource allocation for determining how to design the product, what price to charge, where to promote and how and when to make delivery Other factors are beyond the marketer's control, for example, economic conditions, government regulation, labor union activity and consumer demand (Whether or not consumer tastes are also controlled or at least shaped through advertising is a debate to be postponed for the present Indeed, the position is taken here, in what follows, that consumers' wants and needs reign supreme.)

The Marketing Concept

The marketing concept is the philosophy that the consumer's interest is the starting point if not the major focus, from which all planning takes place This is also called consumer orientation (The central thesis of this book, the concept that concepts are marketed using the marketing concept, is a tongue twister and every effort has been taken to assign unambiguous usage of such words as idea, concept, notion, thesis and so on, so that their intended meaning will be clear from the context in which thay are employed.) A consumer oriented marketer plans strategy by first inquiring into the needs and desires of the clientele Then and only then are the four Ps considered By contrast, producer orientation dictates a policy that says, in effect, "I wish to market product X, now let me find people who wish to buy it.” All too often a market for X simply does not exist

Idea marketing too, can be either consumer or producer oriented Marketers, having ascertained consumers' felt needs and wants, disseminate ideas in such a manner that those ideas become

available for adoption by interested individuals This is called "pull" marketing because it is based

on the premise that informed consumers seek out or pull at the product offering on their own

initiative Producer oriented idea marketers engage in the opposite or "push" marketing,

alternatively termed high-pressure or simply persuasion

The Marketing Approach As Problem Solving

One of the characteristics by which one discipline can be distinguished from another is the particular philosophy or method customarily employed by each discipline in solving problems While most fields of endeavor employ a number of problem-solving techniques, some methods are typically associated with certain disciplines Pure scientists usually experiment Philosophers prefer inductive reasoning while physicists and mathematicians lean toward deductive methods Medical practitioners use diagnosis and attorneys rely on an experiential approach or what is called "case law." Economists look to utility theory emphasizing the most efficient allocation of scarce resources that will maximize human welfare Utility theory includes the ideas of preference and taste as

determinants of welfare and these ideas are borrowed from economists by marketers in framing their own special way to solve problems Marketers' unique approach to solving problems is to attempt to match products with people's wants and/or needs A product is developed to satisfy a need identified

by the marketer (usually through marketing research upon a target population)

A major difference between the economist's approach and that of the marketer stems from the formers assumption of rationality in man -the economic man concept -under which individuals are said to be able to evaluate and choose what is required in order for them to achieve optimal

satisfaction Economists assume that individuals seek an "optimal bundle" of products, optimal in the sense of utility maximization and that preferences are based on reason This notion would support Dewey's observation (1910) noted in Chapter 1, that ideas reside in a reasoning process Economic man, faced with a dilemma, deliberately and rationally sets out to ponder, develop and nurture one or more ideas as part of the problem-solving process

Marketers however, view people differently In fact they assume "limited rationality" in

individuals They are aware that consumer choice decisions are complicated phenomena the complex man theory and are based upon emotion, at least as much as on reason To assume

rationality acknowledges the presence of needs but not wants During the time since Dewey wrote,

theories by Freud, Lewin, Skinner and others have argued that decision making, including idea adoption, rests more importantly upon emotional phenomena perceptions, values, attitudes, group influence and personality than on reason (These factors are addressed in Chapter 9.)

Rationality moves a person to choose a flat table rather than a rough stone upon which to place a sheet of writing paper But the particular style of writing table selected is largely a matter of

emotion Marketers believe that people are influenced not just by reason but by a great many other factors as well, leading ultimately to the satisfaction of needs and wants and that the satisfaction of utility is not ordinarily maximized but merely "satisficed" (Newell and Simon 1972), that is, satisfied with something "good enough," rather than optimally Thus, while economists assume the existence

of bundles of goods and theorize about utility that consumers derive from these goods, marketers investigate the properties inherent in product offerings that are capable of providing utility and then set out to provide those products most likely to satisfy The assumption of rationality is relaxed The marketing approach implies specification of a product to be engineered in a manner so as to resolve some problem facing target consumers For example, the product of the ASPCA is humane and responsible pet ownership One way to market that product is to appeal to people's loneliness, their need for affection and the mutual caring and companionship between master and pet the marketing approach also involves consideration of several key questions These are listed below with references to corresponding chapters of this book:

1 What is the product? See this chapter

2 What are some other products of the same general type? Familiarity with these will facilitate understanding of the "cash crop." See this chapter

3 In what type of transaction is the product exchanged? See this chapter

4 What must be decided about strategies for design, pricing, communication and distribution? See Chapters 4, 5, 6 and 7 respectively

5 Is the sponsoring institution marketing oriented? See Chapter 3

6 Who are the customers? Why do they purchase? See Chapter 9 How do they differ one from the other?

I D E AS AS P R O D U C T S : S O C I AL M AR K E T I N G

If marketers solve problems by offering tangible goods and services, then by extension human difficulties are susceptible to resolution by the introduction of innovative ideas if these can be delivered employing the marketing approach It is an affirmative response to the question posed by Wiebe (1952): "Why can't you sell brotherhood and rational thinking like you sell soap?" There does not seem to be much difference between Dewey's observation that ideas stem from problems and marketing view that products originate out of consumers' needs and desires Ideas are to

problems what products are to needs and desires Each is capable of resolving or satisfying some situation; ideas solve problems while products satisfy needs and desires

To be sure, not all ideas will solve problems Just as some products can be faulty and then exacerbate rather than satisfy needs, the same may be said regarding "bad" ideas Similarly, the implementation of a social issue which is controversial by definition, may be pleasing to some while creating difficulty for others (Belk 1980)

Deriving benefits from product offerings

The notion that concepts may be viewed as products in the marketing sense is also rooted in two theories more recent than Dewey's One is the "bundle of attributes" hypothesis of the economist Lancaster (1966), who argued that it is not the actual products that render utility to individuals but rather, that satisfaction is derived from attributes inherent in those products Later, an important paper by Haley (1968) introduced the notion that benefits perceived by consumers from the goods they purchase could constitute important criteria for segmenting markets

When people purchase goods and services, their acquisitions bring certain benefits or

satisfactions enjoyed through ownership of these goods or use of these services But utility is also

obtained from the adoption of ideas and social issues If it can be shown that products and concepts share similar attributes, then one could surmise that the adoption of innovative ideas could, under certain circumstances provide substitute utility, that is, could yield benefits otherwise derived from the acquisition of goods and services Benefits ordinarily derived from material things could be obtained from abstract things such as ideas To determine whether this premise makes any sense, one could examine the characteristics ordinarily inherent in tangible products and services and compare them with those possessed by innovations If these two sets of characteristics can be shown

to be either similar or reasonable substitutes one for the other, then the premise is supported

For example, one may ask "Can you compare the pleasure derived from wearing a new jacket with the feeling of satisfaction obtained from the completion of a course in some subject at a

university? The jacket gives the wearer instant gratification but benefits derived from the course may not come until much later -perhaps upon graduation or when the material learned in the course proves to be useful in a job setting Thus one sees a time factor in considering the nature of utility

In addition to time utility, economists by similar logic, describe place utility, form utility and possession utility One could attempt to test the similarities and differences of benefits derived as measured by these different kinds of economic utility Finally, one may speak of a "quality utility." While a single jacket might not satisfactorily substitute for a college course, a warehouse full of jackets whose sales could render the owner financially secure might indeed be a more satisfactory product

As another example, does religion as a form of exchange offer satisfaction to compensate for deprivation endured by the poor? Some form of assurance that the shaping of ones destiny is outside

of his or her control, might be considered as a substitute for material wealth I do not have enough food to feed my children so I take some solace in the assurance that an almighty power will look after my family Indeed, religious institutions increasingly are looking to marketing to stem the tide

of diminishing attendance (Austin 1980)

What, in the first place are the sources of utility? What is it that satisfies people? Is it the case that ideas and social issues possess capabilities for imparting utility to individuals, utility that those individuals otherwise obtain through the acquisition of tangible products and services? If so,

possibly one could replace an automobile agency with a social service agency or a real estate

broker's office with a government agency espousing physical fitness This leads one to ponder the question that the adoption of ideas designed to assist the individual in making better use of his or her own resources could at least partially replace the need to amass material resources provided by others Are ideas substitutes for things?

These rhetorical and problematic questions must remain open However, it seems clear that people in postindustrial societies are confronted with an increasing volume of concepts whose adoption or nonadoption they must decide That reality sparked the suggestion among some

marketing scholars of the 1960's to broaden the scope of marketing to include ideational products

The "Scope Broadening" Debate

The "scope broadening" debate, over how broad the scope of marketing should be, is well

documented (Fox and Kotler 1980) and will not be elaborated upon here One might add that

marketing is not the only discipline whose scope is broadening and whose boundaries are grey areas Social workers perform psychotherapy and attorneys may legally serve as real estate brokers The American Institute of Architects has modified its rules to permit its members not only to design, but also to build A spokesman from the profession commented: "The notion of the architect becoming actively involved in construction as well as design is not new, it began with Michelangelo and Bramante in Rome (The New York Times, 1978 p 16)

Strangely, while academicians argue whether the dissemination of social cause is or is not

marketing, the U.S government annually pays out over $100 million to media and to agencies to promote such issues as energy conservation and third world nations employ Madison Avenue firms

to spread nutrition and population control information, with eminent success Like Nero,

academicians fiddle with the "broadening" debate while the world burns with its many forms of suffering amenable to amelioration through social promotion

Social Marketing: Two Meanings

The term social marketing seems to have earned for itself two different definitions (Luck 1974) Writers have applied the expression in one sense to mean the social responsibilities of marketers primarily in response to the pressures of consumer advocacy and government regulation Within this meaning the emphasis is on economic benefits to business and social benefits to society that result from the adoption of socially responsible business policies by corporate enterprise For example, a great number of firms have recently embarked on projects to help rebuild inner cities Others search for programs of societal concern to which they may give monetary and other forms of support One

of many works emphasizing this meaning of social marketing is a book by Lazer and Kelley (1973) Another, focusing on environmental conservation factors is that of Perry (1976) However, most writers agree with Takas (1974) who applies the expression societal marketing to the foregoing usage

The second meaning ascribed to social marketing is the applicability of marketing thought to the introduction and dissemination of ideas and issues That connotation was propounded by Wiebe in

1952 and later given impetus by Kotler, Levy, Zaltman and others (Fox and Kotler (1980) present a ten-year synopsis of social marketing The present work obviously falls within this second meaning

of social marketing for which a frequently cited definition by Kotler and Zaltman (1971) is: the design, implementation and control of programs calculated to influence the acceptability of social ideas and involving considerations of product planning, pricing, communication, distribution and marketing research (p 5)

A B R O AD E N E D T Y P O L O G Y O F P R O D U C T S

The broadened scope of marketing implies that product offerings could be anything considered to

be of value by the parties to the transaction What are the actual items that are marketed? What

"things" do individuals exchange? Quite apart from the common characteristic shared by all

commodities, that is, that they must have perceived value to the participants, how do different

offerings compare, one with another? If virtually anything and everything is subject to negotiated exhange, it is useful to categorize formally the enlarged domain of products in some orderly

arrangement That is the undertaking of this section

A typological model is developed and proposed as an integrative framework for the analysis of all types of offerings (The author begs license for using the term typology rather loosely Strictly defined, a typology must provide exhaustive and mutually exclusive categories The model proposed

in this chapter somewhat violates that definition and hence might more accurately be called a typology.'') It will thus serve too as a basis for analysis for those particular commodities highlighted

"quasi-in this book It will p"quasi-inpo"quasi-int the position that concepts have with"quasi-in the entire gamut of products (Fine 1979b)

Even with conventional goods, a model that classifies product types is useful in framing,

analyzing and comparing marketing strategy, in suggesting new venture directions and as a

benchmark for assessing one's own product mix against that of the competition However, for such a model to be useful, it must be sufficiently broad to encompass the entire set of choices the "evoked set" facing consumers That set of alternatives contains not only goods and services but concepts as well The typology advanced in this chapter permits marketers to position products against

competing offerings, including those constituting exchange types different from their own Kotler (1972) was an early proponent of the notion of classifying nontraditional products:

A typology of marketing activity can also be constructed on the basis of the product marketed Under the broadened concept of marketing, the product is no longer restricted to commercial goods and services A product classification of marketing consists of goods marketing, service marketing, organization marketing, person marketing, place marketing and idea marketing (p 51)

What is probably the first product categorization model partitions products as either convenience, shopping, or specialty goods (Copeland 1923) Other schemes are based on product characteristics (Aspinwall 1962; Miracle 1965; Shostack 1977), production and cost factors (Beckman, Davidson and Talarzyk 1973), "psychophysical" aspects (Ramond and Assael 1974) and the Standard

Industrial Classification (SIC) established by the government None of these, however, consider

"social products," that is, ideas and issues One wonders whether product typologies that omit social innovations as exchange types are still useful Kotler's "three stages of marketing consciousness" model (1972) did account for social products and provided a three-category classification device, as did Enis (1973), classifying on organizational goals and audience types Hunt (1976) also took social marketing into consideration However, he apparently did not intend his model to apply to products per se, rather specifying it as useful in classifying "approaches to the study of marketing and all the problems, issues, theories, models and research" (p 22) By contrast, the model presented here deals with the actual product offerings designed to be marketed

The Typology

The model is based on the assumption that all goods, services and concepts (products) may be classified on two dimensions the profit-making nature of the transaction and the degree of

tangibility of the item

Profit Making Versus Nonprofit Marketing

An obvious point of departure is provided by a dichotomy of all exchange processes as being either for profit, or not for profit This concept enjoys wide usage and denotes whether or not the seller in the marketing process intends to gain a profit over costs in the transaction (The legal requirement is, of course, that an institution be incorporated as a nonprofit organization and/or obtain federal tax exemption status from the Internal Revenue Service.) The notion ignores consideration

of profits accruing to the purchaser Thus, a transaction in which the idea of private religion is adopted is profitable to the marketer, for example, "Reverend lke." But here, as in all market

transactions, profit in the form of psychological utility to the purchaser is usually omitted from the definition, except perhaps by implication If the case were otherwise, that is if nonpecuniary profits entered into account, then there would be no such concept as a nonprofit transaction; all exchanges would be considered profit-making For an exchange takes place if and only if, all parties benefit or

"profit" as a result of the exchange A blood donor profits financially if paid in cash for his or her blood; if a volunteer, the compensation takes the form of personal satisfaction, which is surely beneficial or profitable to the donor (Titmuss 1972)

In the present chapter accepted usage will be followed and a transaction will be considered making only if it is characterized by the seller's intent to obtain monetary profit That actual profit might not materialize is incidental The situation calls to mind a notice hanging on an office wall, stating: "This is a nonprofit organization; it was not intended to be, but became so due to conditions beyond our control." Although clever, the remark is nevertheless definitionally inconsistent, fora nonprofit organization is one that does not intend to earn a profit on its transactions (it might profit, for example, from investments) On the other hand, an organization is considered profit-making if such intent is evident, whether or not profit accrues, or loss (negative profit) is suffered This affords

profit-an entirely workable distinction to determine if a trprofit-ansaction is profit making (But the

profit/nonprofit dichotomy in exchange transactions can have different meanings in different

situations, as Professor Sheth has pointed out (1980), "For example, in many countries, the state owns and manages large corporations which are run like profit businesses although their mission is nonprofit The obvious examples are foreign airlines and shipping companies")

A Tangible-Abstract Product Dimension

The second dimension to be used in the model measures transactions along a tangible-abstract continuum If a tangible good is involved, the exchange is concrete; if the "product" is an idea or a

cause, the transaction is abstract Both bicycles and birth-control information are products to be marketed; the former is a tangible good, while the latter is an abstract idea This reasoning is not altered by the fact that birth-control information is usually associated with actual products, such as condoms, foams and so on Even among concrete products, some are more abstract than others A home fire alarm system is a tangible product, but it is inextricably tied to the abstract idea of safety For the sake of the typology, the continuous tangible-abstract spectrum is categorized into four classes, standard practice in research methodology; one converts intervally scaled variables into ordinal or nominal classes to meet particular analytic needs Here, the need is simply to create a manageably small number of categories

The Matrix

Combination of the two-category profit dimension with the categorized tangible-abstract

dimension yields the matrix shown in Table 2.1, in which several dozen illustrative exchanges are listed the list is by no means exhaustive; nor are its entries proposed as the best examples The reader will no doubt call to mind more creative choices; the selections are merely representative and not all will be discussed in the text

The top row lists exchanges for which no profit to the seller was intended to accrue; the bottom row lists exchanges in which profit was the principal motivation The first column takes in tangible commodities, the second column considers services rendered, the third column covers ideas and the fourth column lists causes or social issues

Examples of items appropriate to cell (1), nonprofit tangibles, include purchases made at a

consumer cooperative or in stores operated by charities such as the Salvation Army Voluntary blood contributions are nonprofit tangibles too; however if the donor is paid, the exchange is profit making and belongs in cell (5) Public goods such as those disposed of by the General Services Administration could also have been listed in cell (1)

Cell (2) depicts nonprofit services rendered by such institutions as libraries, post offices, YMCAs, chambers of commerce, museums, the Red Cross and so on Offerings of nonprofit health care organizations also fall into this category, as do those of universities and Boys Town

Innovative ideas affecting personal lifestyles of individuals belong in cell (3), provided they originate without the profit motive These include physical fitness, use of seat belts, boy and girl scouting, military recruiting and the value of education The furtherance of a political campaign (party or candidate) is an idea to be adopted and hence belongs in this cell Fund raisers market the idea that a cash contribution should be made, the amount of cash being the price for adoption of the idea

Cell (4), nonprofit social causes, includes campaigns designed to ameliorate child abuse,

speeding, malnutrition, smoking, littering, forest fires, pollution; the list is long indeed One may add the exchange of information on civil rights, product safety, the metric system, religion, voter registration, energy conservation and so on

Cell (5) designates profit-making exchanges of tangible products -food, clothing, automobiles and

so on -probably the largest proportion of commercial transactions A share of stock representing part ownership in a corporation is included here, as are real estate and commodity investments

Cell (6) lists profit-making services such as those offered by travel agencies, insurance

companies, purveyors of the performing arts and any items from cell (2) that bear the intent of profit: private nursing homes, day-care centers and so forth The service of providing space for which rent

is paid is also listed there

In cell (7), one example of an idea marketed by a profit-making organization may be seen in a new fashion design, say, by Christian Dior While this firm markets a design service to the apparel industry (cell (6)), at the same time it initiates styles sought by devotees of fashionable dress These are matters that surely affect the life styles of these people and being profit inspired, they have a place in cell (7) When adoption becomes widespread, producers of fashion apparel quickly

capitalize on the popularization of such style trends (cell (8)) for their own profit Similar cycles are followed by patents and other creative commodities

The idea sold by Smokenders, a profit-making firm, could belong in cell (6); however it deserves

a place in cell (8) as well, when one considers the current feeling that smoking is harmful not only to the smoker, but to those nearby and hence to society Another cell (8) product is found among the various schemes for recycling waste materials Such causes as free enterprise and tourism in

America are profit motivated and also are classed as cell (8) exchanges To find additional cell (8) illustrations one may peruse columns one and two, for suggestions of institutions that, while

marketing goods and services, might also promote societal welfare in the process As an example, a chemical firm selling fluorides to the municipal water company market, can be construed as a profit-making organization espousing the social cause of fluoridation The same may be said for a

marketer of pollution-control systems to industry

Grey Areas in the Model

The assignment of most exchange types to the various cells is relatively straightforward, but some designations require stretching the imagination or indeed arbitrary placement Thus, mass transit is a service rendered, yet it is an idea in the private interest that sometimes erupts as a controversial issue When an Indian family adopted Mrs Gandhi's vasectomy program, did such submission constitute purchase of the tangible economic incentives offered by the government? Was it the adoption of the idea of fewer children? Or were people motivated by societal benefits of population control, a public issue? A donation of one's blood without monetary remuneration, say to the Red Cross, presents an interesting type of exchange Here, the consumer adopts a cell 3 idea marketed by an agency, that it

is a good thing to donate blood In this case the blood itself is not the product; it is the price for the idea If unpaid, a blood donation is a barter of blood in exchange for the idea On the other hand, if the donor is paid in cash, the exchange falls into cell (5), the sale of a tangible product, blood

A straightforward categorization is always difficult when one tries to classify human phenomena; apologias are always in order Hunt (1976) for example, stated that his scheme does not "imply that reasonable people cannot disagree as to which cell (in his model) is most appropriate for each issue

or particular piece of research" (p 23) One may add that disagreement itself enhances appreciation

of a concept The inevitable presence of a typology's grey areas does not detract from its overall utility

Implications

A Broadened View of Product Positioning

The typology highlights the reality that consumers make choices from an extremely large

assortment Marketing strategists delude themselves if they believe their mission is just to create preference for one brand over another Ad designers must be aware of the great many alternative offerings vying for the consumer's time and attention, beyond just competing brands To fabricate what may be a farfetched illustration, General Motors might have a stake in promoting the value of family life, because the man visiting his divorce lawyer is not able to concentrate on the question of whether to consider a Buick or a Ford (But then some point out that divorces result in more auto sales!) In a more realistic vein, sellers of cigarettes, cell (5), are investing $5 million to combat the onslaught of the antismoking campaign (cell 4)

Thus, marketers need not position products only against others in the smae class; the broadened categorization scheme makes possible the positioning of products against an entire spectrum of offering in an extended "evoked set" of the consumer, that is, against other transactions for which consumers exchange money, time, effort, psyche and other scarce resources Marketers should attempt to measure consumer attitudes not only toward their own products but also toward other offerings in the typology

What Business Are We In?

The model can assist marketers in finding answers to what is sometimes an elusive yet crucial question: What business are we in? Does one sell cars or power, medical care or freedom from pain, social work or relationship, animal shelter or responsible pet ownership? Does the employment agency sell workers or productivity? Does the politician sell self-image or security for the voter? In terms of the typology, is the Better Business Bureau a cell (2) or a cell (4) organization, that is, does

it render a service or does it promote a social issue, or both? (Compare this with Townsend's known question asked of Avis: Are we in the car rental business, or do we provide transportation? For another example, the cosmetics producer Charles Revson, is said to have remarked, "We don't sell lipstick, we sell hope.") If, as was pointed out above, Smokenders markets cell (8) as well as its cell (6) product, might this firm qualify for support from an antipollution agency?

well-New Markets for Ad Agencies

A number of offerings appearing in the top row, cells 1 through 4, are sometimes broadly classed

as public services and fall within the aegis of the Advertising Council (see Chapter 7) What is

interesting however, is that these four cells show many exchanges whose campaigns are paid for and hence are outside the Ad Council's efforts Thus, although they are marketed by nonprofit

organizations, the measuring services such as Leading National Advertisers, Inc., count their ad billings in with commercial advertising Examples include the Salvation Army, CARE, many fund raisers, public goods of the U.S government and labor unions

The top row of the typology may thus suggest new areas for advertisers' interest in items for institutional ads, say for image advertising, as well as concept advertising By a conservative

estimate, top-row exchanges presently account for less than 2 percent of the nearly $50 billion of total annual advertising billings in the U.S Does the broadened exchange typology suggest new markets for Madison Avenue? If, as was intimated in Chapter 1, the apparent trend is away from interest in material things and toward the ideational, should the marketing of advertising similarly be redirected? Will ideas and social issues be "encores," the new product types to be sought by the advertising industry?

This section has presented a categorization scheme for all "things" that are considered products in the marketing sense, that is, things that by their very nature, may serve to satisfy needs and desires of individuals The products focused upon in this book occupy the right-hand half of the model

presented in this chapter Ideas and social issues represent the abstract concepts considered as items

of exchange in this book

E X C H AN G E T R AN S AC T I O N S I N S O C I AL M A R K E T I N G

Having put social products within an integrative framework of product offering, the next task in developing the marketing approach to ideas is to examine methods by which concepts are marketed What is the nature of the exchange transaction? It is called an exchange transaction because

ordinarily something of approximately equal value to the product is given in return by the consumer

to the supplier An exchange of values takes place in the marketing transaction

Where does social marketing occur? The traditional transaction takes place in the open

marketplace Goods and services are bought and sold through a bargaining process with each party trying to obtain what it perceives are the best terms available By contrast exchanges of social products occur in political, organizational, educational, leisure, health care, family and a multitude of other settings In its broadest meaning social marketing occurs virtually everywhere and all the time, but under different labels -public service, organizational development, human interaction (for

example a marriage proposal) and so on

A transaction takes place, for example, when a person decides to watch a television program; he is exchanging his time for entertainment A transaction takes place when a person votes for a particular candidate; he is exchanging his time and support for expectations of better government A transaction takes place when a person gives money to a charity; he is exchanging money for a good conscience, (Kotler 1972, p.48)

Marketing as Exchange and Exchange as Marketing

That the concept of exchange underlies marketing processes has been well developed and

documented, notably by Bagozzi (1974, 1975): "Exchange is a central concept in marketing and may well serve as the foundation for that elusive "general theory of marketing" (1975, p.39) If marketing

is exchange, what about the converse? Are not many exchanges also market transactions? It turns out that many forms of non-mercantile interaction among individuals and groups can be considered and studied as marketing phenomena That is the theme of this book and it is also the theme of a work by the cultural anthropologist Belshaw who indeed maintains that "all enduring social relations involve transactions which have an exhange aspect" (1965, p.4) Bagozzi concurs: "Social marketing

is the answer to particular question; Why and how are exchanges created and resolved in social relationships?" (1975, p 38) Carrying the argument yet further, Issacson and Permut (1978) point out that:

The extension of marketing theory and practice from the private/business arena to a host of other contexts in which exchange processes take place requires an appreciation for the very diverse nature of these exchanges, including understanding the different backgrounds, structures, goals and operating procedures of the institution and individual participants We believe the insights gained by considering more diverse settings have not only a value in their own right, but add to our ability to comprehend and resolve problems in more traditional marketing settings (p 432)

The remainder of this section lists several methods of human interaction not usually seen as marketing, but presented here within a marketing orientation This list of transactional types is by no means a serious review of exchange theory Rather it is intended to serve as a convenient showcase

to demonstrate some of the ways in which social products are marketed Each of the types -isted below is susceptible to analysis in terms of the six key "marketing approach" questions raised earlier

in the chapter and they constitute the methods employed by the distribution channels discussed in Chapter 7

Information and education dissemination

In a broad sense virtually all marketing activity consists of the dissemination of information No matter what the product the marketer must communicate information about benefits to the consumer

to be derived from an exchange transaction That point is emphasized throughout Chapter 8 where the product is information about government manpower training and strategic planning is

demonstrated from that viewpoint Knowledge itself has been described by Gerald Zaltman (1979)

in terms of "items" designed and transmitted to satisfy users (see Chapter 4 of the present volume) The acquisition of information and education is a consumption process and includes, for example, participation in and attendance at lectures, as well as formal schooling Swagler (1979) studied what

he called consumers' "information acquisition behavior" in which the price paid for tl:e purchase is primarily in terms of time He points out that the consumer's "stock of informational capital

becomes a dominant factor in the consumer's decision whether or not to seek additional

information." How similar this is to the situation of a food store buyer contemplating inventory replenishment (It is interesting that both food and information might spoil with age!)

Interpersonal relationships offer many examples of educative exchanges in which the product is information, knowledge, recounted experience, or skills Many youngsters can attest to parental efforts to promote some of the concepts shown in cells (3) and (4) of Table 2-1 And the price paid seems so high! Usually these products are packaged (couched) in "for-your-own-good" wrappings and children become repeat customers to the extent that they find sense and validity in buying these ideas

Gossipmongering

"Gossip is a valuable social commodity," writes Rosnow (1977): "There is in fact a close and very specific parallel between the functions and distribution of gossip and the patterns of marketing practices" (p.159) He goes on to relate three varieties of gossip -information, influence and

entertainment -with the three patterns of trade identified by Polanyi, Arensberg and Pearson (1957):

Redistributive trading denotes that case in which resources are brought to a central operation and from

there fairly dispersed, as when individuals make charitable contributions to some central collection

agency which redistributes the donations to needy persons according to their requirements Exchange

is that case in which the value placed upon a commodity results from bargaining for economic advantage, as when goods or services are brought into the marketplace and sold to the highest bidder

Reciprocative trading refers to the establishment of an equitable ratio or balanced reciprocity in the

giving and receiving of goods and services, as when farmers lend a helping hand to one another at harvest time

Patterns of Trading Practices

Reciprocative Exchange Reciprocative

Rumormongering

Rumor-mongering is a form of exchange similar to gossip mongering, except that a rumor usually refers to some specific episode; gossip is more general Trade in rumors dates back to ancient Roman emperors who appointed public rumor wardens (called delatores), agent middlemen to bring rumors from the populace to the palace and then to carry back other rumors to the people

"Psychological warfare is not new," comment Allport and Postman (1947) They go on to ask:

How much of history, can be regarded as the reactions of important groups of people to current rumor?"

A great deal, we suspect, for until very recent times the inhabitants of the world had little to rely on other than rumored information Newspapers, the telegraph, the radio are late inventions Before their advent the public had to rely upon some traveler to bring with him word-of-mouth reports, upon some Paul Revere to announce approaching danger, or upon the town crier to tell his own version of the day's news Only a few statesmen and a few monarchs received written and sealed dispatches and their source was not necessarily rumor free (p 161)

For a rumor to exist two necessary conditions must be present: the tale must be important to both parties and the actual facts must be shrouded in some kind of ambiguity (Allport and Postman 1947,

p 33) Interestingly, both importance and ambiguity are key variables in the Howard-Sheth model

of buyer behavior (1969), a cornerstone of marketing theory A product's importance to a consumer motivates him or her to attend to advertising, while ambiguity in the promotion's message stimulates further search for information to clarify the ambiguity There is a remarkable tendency to recall the message of rumor while forgetting its source or the channels through which it was transmitted One reason is that rumor, true to a cardinal rule of the advertising profession, typically is heard more than once Redundancy and repetition make the message clearer and tend to mediate "noise in the

system."

Probably the highest price one pays for adoption of an idea in rumor form is the risk of using and conveying inaccurate information (Mark Twain is said to have quipped, "The reports of my death

are greatly exaggerated.") Another price is just the attention "paid" to the rumormonger who is in need of solicitude possibly to fill an otherwise humdrum existence His inventory of rumors-for-sale renders his life more interesting In return the rumor consumer obtains psychological benefits:

In August 1945, a rumor spread to the effect that Russia declared war on Japan only because Russia received in exchange the secret of the atomic bomb Those who believed and spread this tale were people who disliked the Russians and, perhaps to only a slightly less extent, disliked the Administration in Washington Gnawing hatred motivated the rumor But instead of saying candidly,

"I hate Russia," or "I hate the Democrats," the rumor spreader seized upon a story that would relieve, justify and explain his underlying emotional tension (Allport and Postman 1947, p 36)

Thus rumor helps one to reason and often provides a plausible explanation for confused and

otherwise unexplainable ideas

Public Relations or Publicity

Public relations or publicity is the marketing activity usually designed to promote, not a specific product offering but rather the idea of a favorable image of an individual or an organization Thus, while marketing's product is engineered to satisfy needs of potential consumers, publicity as a product must appeal to all individuals in society The rationale for public relations stems from the realization that not only customers, but also many other publics, influence the welfare of the

organization But there is another distinction between marketing and public relations: In marketing the sponsor is identified and makes payment to the medium for the service of message delivery In the case of publicity, media space is usually not paid for, the notice appearing as editorial matter and the sponsor's identity is not necessarily self-evident (Bernstein 1973)

Apart from such differences, public relations practitioners really play marketing roles as

wholesalers of ideas:

They are powerful middlemen Sometimes they mediate between their clients and the press, selling stories, overseeing interviews, putting out press releases Sometimes they bring clients and government officials together, making introductions, explaining how the bureaucracy and its leaders operate Sometimes they work with the client alone, revamping an image here, reshaping a position there (Quindlen 198O, p L21)

Many believe that public relations consists of correcting a false image that people have of some institution If an institution suffers from a poor image, then the solution to that problem lies not in artificially changing that image through promotion techniques, but rather in changing the causes of the negative image The relationship between public relations and marketing lies in the very

definition of marketing, namely that marketers produce products designed to satisfy the needs and wants of its market (Kotler and Mindak 1978) The role of public relations in this scenario is first to find out just what is the image that people have and then to return to the institution with a program to modify the root causes creating that image, that is, to improve the institutional "product.”

Newspaper and other media publicity releases on behalf of the client are merely the mechanical aspects; they are not in and of themselves itself public relations To be sure, publicity releases must

be interestingly written, they will not find readers But a PR person who sets out to change peoples' perceptions without taking the necessary steps to correct whatever lies behind those perceptions cannot be said to be acting with integrity A favorable image is not sold with mere words but with performance and action

Public Opinion

Public opinion and public opinion polls (just another name for research in concept marketing) are well known phenomena To the extent public opinion is marketed, the price paid in the exchange might very well be the surrender of the individual's freedom to choose a private opinion Lacking the time, patience and perseverance to inform oneself intelligently about social issues, one absorbs

an opinion preselected by others as public and then degenerates to a state of unthinking conformism:

Stepan Arkadyevitch took in and read a liberal paper, not an extreme one, but one advocating the views held by the majority And in spite of the fact that science, art and politics had no special interest for him, he firaly held those views on all these subjects which were held by the majority and

by his paper and he only changed them when the majority changed them or, more strictly speaking,

he did not change them, but they imperceptibly changed of thcmselves within him Stepan Arkadyevitch had not chosen his political opinions or his views, these political opinions an views had come to him of themselves, liberalism had become a habit of Stepan Arkadyevitch's and he liked his newspaper, as he did his cigar after dinner, for the slight fog it diffused in his brain (Tolstoy, , Modern Library Edition, pp 10-11, in Carlson 1975, p 43)

Unfortunately, most marketers of public opinion, principally the news media, select for

distribution those views they consider to be most newsworthy and not necessarily those most

beneficial to society To that extent they are producer oriented, in violation of the marketing

concept But public opinion is bought not only by individuals too lazy to think for themselves It is also sought after, or should be, by politicians vitally concerned with the opinions of their

constituencies (Zeisel 1980) Thus public comes in at least two product forms, that which is sold and that which is sought

Propagandizing

Propagandizing is another form of human exchange amenable to a marketing perspective

Propaganda is quite synonymous with mass communication, a one-to-many procedure for delivering messages That the term suffers pejorative interpretation similar to "politics" stems from its use by governments to disseminate their own self-serving points of view on issues Yet propaganda is not

by definition a "bad" practice Moreover, an evaluation of the use of propaganda depends on whose side the observer is on, as with Radio Free Europe, Voice of America and Radio Liberty broadcasts, for example Recently, en route to the university parking lot, a student remarked to the author that all advertising was "just plain propaganda." Upon arrival at her vehicle, a bumper sticker asked,

"Did you hug your child today?" That of course was not propaganda

Propaganda is a marketing transaction because it is a process in which a product is promoted, delivered and paid for (with attention, support, risk and such psychic factors as loss of freedom) But not every exchange is propaganda For an exchange in the sense of social marketing to be

considered propaganda, it must conform to three conditions set forth by Lazarsfeld and Merton (1949

in Schramm and Roberts 1971, pp 459-480) for the effective use of mass media in what they call

"propaganda for social objectives." These conditions are:

1) Monopolization, or the absence of neutralizing counterpropaganda If opposing views tend to cancel each other out, then exchange has not been effected In this sense, U.S attempts to rally popular support for the Vietnam War cannot be called propaganda because of the presence of considerable antiwar publicity But ideas spread by the Hitler regime and the Ku Klux Klan, violently resisting opposition, surely fall under the propaganda heading Interestingly, most commercial advertising must escape the propaganda rubric because of copeting and opposing messages inevitably counteracting ad effectiveness, for example, antismoking publicity vs cigarette promotion (In the parking lot chat cited earlier, the student's perception would,

according to Lazarsfeld and Merton, be inaccurate, for who would counter the hug-your-child theme?)

2) Canalization, or the channeling or redirecting of preexisting attitude and behavior rather than attempting to instill radical change A nutrition campaign is propaganda because sound nutrition

is entirely in harmony with human interest in good health: it asks only for a redirecting of dietary habits

3) Supplementation of mass media campaigns with interpersonal word-of-mouth promotion In the Soviet Union, "Red corners," "reading huts," and "listening stations" where groups can converse,

are encouraged in order to achieve a "clinching effect" of mass communicated messages This phenomenon has also been studied as the "two-step-flow" theory of communication It

facilitates the exchange of concepts and justifies the appellation propaganda

In the spirit of the zero based approach promised in the Preface, the Lazarsfeld and Merton model tends to remove pejorative stigma from the propaganda concept

These three conditions also serve to further clarify the distinction made in Chapter 1 between ideas and issues Virtually all societally-beneficial ideas are promoted unopposed and thus enjoy monopoly in the marketplace; they are propaganda (an exception is the idea of conventional

marriage which is opposed by the Sexual Freedom League.) On the other hand, because issues are

by definition two-sided, their sponsorship must be'taken as less propagandist than ideas Contrary to accepted usage, including that seen in most dictionaries, commercial advertising and issue advocacy are less deserving of the propaganda label than the promotion of the most societally beneficial ideas

Lobbying

Lobbying is a form of marketing conducted by an estimated 15,000 professionals who canvas legislators in the U.S Capitol's corridors and lobbies (hence their title) on behalf of their clients They are middlemen of social and political issues serving between special interest groups and lawmakers The product offering is usually a strong position on an issue, in exchange for favors, political contributions and the services of election or campaign workers The lawmaking consumers

of this product pay for their purchases with time spent attending to lobbyists, but more significantly they must sometimes trade off their own convictions as well as those of constituents who hold opposing views Lobbyists include representatives of the National Association of Manufacturers, the U.S Chamber of Commerce, trade and professional organizations, such as the American Medical Association, National Rifle Association, American Petroleum Institute and labor unions Billed as the most powerful lobbying group of all, is the Business Round Table, a consortium of the heads of nearly 200 leading corporations whose aim is to place a "business imprint" on major legislation (Business Week, December 20, 1976)

The lobbying process provides a valuable forum in the marketplace for ideas To a great extent legislators rely on lobbyists as sources of information from their constituencies Yet lobbying, like propaganda, frequently is discussed in a pejorative tone, a perception that is mediated when lobbying

is seen as a two-way need-satisfying exchange, with each side obtaining benefits from the procedure

Advocacy

Advocacy is an exchange transaction in which a highly credible source popularizes a concept and thereby generates widespread demand for it: It is a marketing process in every way For example, Sinclair Lewis' book, The Jungle, called attention to shoddy practices in the meat-packing industry; when the book joined the best seller list, it became a mass medium Its ideas quickly matured into a social issue with resulting passage of the Meat Act of 1906 Purchasers of that issue paid the cash price for the book and a price of time spent in reading and discussing it In turn, they promoted the issue in the form of public outcry to lawmakers, the ultimate customers who bought the idea in exchange for promise of reelection A marketing view of the process is thus simply that of a

distribution channel, discussed in that light in Chapter 7, where advocates are described as channel elements

Fundraising

Fundraising is another transactional type readily viewed here from a marketing orientation A solicitor of funds is a marketer of the concept that it would be a good idea to contribute to a charity and the buyer of that idea pays for it with the amount given, the price Delivery of the product is usually made in the form of a document of acknowledgement which the donor receives with much delight and ego enhancement

A classic case study of marketing's successful application to fund raising is given in Mindak and Bybee (1971) The authors describe their use of consumer research, segmentation strategy, product positioning and promotion campaigning in a competitive "charity market." Of the two main

promotion methods, mass and interpersonal, the latter was found by Long (1976) to be more

effective in fund raising Various fund-raising techniques were tested in a marketing research experiment by Reingen (1978) That study highlighted the value of thc foot-in-the-door technique for achieving compliance with respect to donations to the Heart Association The foot-in-the-door theory suggests that compliance is more likely to a second request if a small request is first made, just to get the "foot in the door.” The notion is based on self-perception theory, which in turn asserts that attitudes and beliefs are inferred from self-observation of one's behavior

Economists provide cogent arguments pointing to social pressure as the principal force

motivating consumers to adopt the idea of philanthropy In a strong statement to that effect, Bolnick maintains that at the root of philanthropic behavior lies a social interdependence among people and that charitable contributions are made only to ward off the accusation by others of the donor's

selfishness (in Phelps 1975, p 198 passim) The opportunity to give visibly to charity is a product that should be designed in such a manner as to satisfy the donor's need for approval, belongingness, status, self-esteem and last if indeed not least, tax shelter Because people have these felt needs, professional fund raisers serve as problem solvers in the true marketing sense

The entire idea of giving, not only of funds, but also the giving of objects as gifts, has long attracted the attention of sociologists and cultural anthropologists For scholarly yet highly readable treatments, one should see the works of Sahlins, Mauss, Titmus, Homans, or Levi-Strauss, for example and an interesting marketing statement on gift giving is Belk (1976) Because gift-giving phenomena ordinarily deal with the exchange of tangibles, for example, the potlatch and the kula (Mauss 1967) they are not included in the present study It should be mentioned however, that in some societies the gift is not the real product in the exchange, but rather the price paid As Mauss pointed out, gifts aim to buy: peace; to express affection, regard or loyalty; to unify the group; to bind the generations; to fulfil a contractual set of obligations and rights; to function as acts of

penitence, shame or degradation and to symbolize many other human sentiments (1967, p 45) Philanthropy has undergone changes parallel to those of other mercantile activities In pre-industrial societies, assisting one's neighbor was a person-to-person process analogous to barter or purchase of hand crafted wares Present day charity is a matter of public administration, or

Redistributive Trading, according to the Rosnow model cited earlier in this section

give-and-Debate is also excluded A debate is a contest whose purpose is more to determine the relative quality of discourse of the protagonists, then to convey the focus ideas That in the process, issues are exchanged and even diffused among members of the audience, is secondary to the choice of the winner A debate is thus like a sporting event at which, although the fans have interest in and enthusiasm for the theme (the sport, the issue), they cheer primarily the team that bests its opponent

A debate is a service designed to satisfy people's need to observe others "doing battle" or performing

in one way or another In short, participants in a debate, like players in the performing sports and arts, while they impart to their clients much is ideational, their exchanges are primarily entertaining; they render entertainment, a service; "the play's the thing."

This last section has discussed some of the methods by which ideas and other concepts are infused and disseminated An attempt was made to demonstrate that these exchanges are to a large extent marketing activities

S U M M AR Y

By discussing several aspects of the marketing approach to ideas, this chapter has set the stage for the scenario that unfolds in the remainder of the book, where marketing principles are actually applied to concept dissemination Several basic marketing expressions including social marketing, (idea marketing, concept marketing) were defined and marketing was presented as a problem-solving process Ideas have now been contextualized in three different ways In Chapter 1 they were shown

to occupy positions: a) within a reasoning process, b) in a hierarchy beginning with the existence of

a problem and culminating in social change and c) in this chapter, a quasi-typology where ideas were placed within a gamut of all types of product offerings

Several selected forms of human exchange were portrayed as marketing types information acquisition, gossip, rumor, public relations, public opinion, propaganda, lobbying, advocacy and fund raising

Having argued that ideas are products of human exchange and that exchange phenomena are marketing transactions, it must follow that ideas can be studied as any other products, that they are bought and sold, priced and advertised, packaged and distributed These marketing factors as

applied to ideas are taken up in the next part of this book

3 IDEA PRODUCERS

T H E E M E R G I N G C O N C E P T S E C T O R

This chapter explores a sector of the economy believed to be at the threshold of a fascinating emergence The sector is constituted of those institutions sponsoring ideas and social issues concepts in contrast to organizations purveying goods and services As yet unnamed, one could assign to it an appellation such as the idea industry or more eloquently, the concept sector The concept sector cuts across traditional boundaries of sector distinction because its members include profit-making, nonprofit and public organizations as well as the hybrid "quasis." It is characterized

by the criterion that its "product mix" consists of abstract concepts unrelated to conventional

products

Managers in the concept sector design (social) products and perform the entire gamut of

marketing functions Whether they realize it or not, they are businesspeople; they are merchants But to delimit the scope of this chapter, only originators or "producers" of concepts will be

discussed (They shall also be referred to as sponsors or initiators of ideas.) "Middlemen'' operating between the producer and the consumer are discussed in Chapter 7 These include the mass media, opinion leaders and pressure groups of various types

Concept producers seem close to the realization that marketing philosophies and methodologies are applicable to the social products they sponsor Some have known it for years But to most others, it is a revelation and one may expect that those newly initiated will embark upon exciting ventures

In reality, the concept sector is ancient What is new is its formulation as a businesslike activity through the application of marketing thought Ideas are nonmaterial products that have been bought and sold in both open and closed marketplaces since time immemorial From Plato's notions about the nature of a perfect republic to Marx's thoughts about an ultimate classless society, the

merchandising of concepts has been ever present

Government, a Special Case

In fact, politics is a special but important case of idea marketing, with the politician marketing the idea, "Vote for me!" Perhaps one of the oldest members of the idea sector, only recently has the politician been studied formally from a marketing viewpoint (Rothschild 1978; Palda 1980) The candidates name is a brand name for ideas (products) that are promoted in elaborate caapaigns and bought by consumers who make up the electorate Sometimes a high price is paid for the purchase! Once they have successfully sold the "Vote for me" idea, politicians produce and market a host of other concepts, in aspiration of yet additional objectives: More news emanates from officials than from any other source … Bureaucratic need accounts for the volume of details on the inner workings

of government published in the American press Officials engaging in intragovernmental politicking

to achieve the policy outcomes they desire exploit the press tactically (Sigal 1973, p 336)

Legislative and regulative agencies themselves make an important contribution to the concept sector For example, advocacy of one side in an issre is given tremendous impetus when it attains legal status A current case in point is the issue of "mainstreaming" disabled youngsters in public schools -including them in regular classes -in contrast to educating them in special facilities Public Law 504, against discrimination and specifically, Public Law 94142, give parents the legal right to insist that public schools mainstream all children having such disabilities as muscular dystrophy, retardation, hearing impairment and so on, in the belief that mainstreaming provides the least

restrictive environment In many cases compliance has necessitated large expenditures by school systems for equipment, structural modification in buildings and special staff Most people would not concern themselves with the idea that handicapped children should be schooled in the same classes

as normal children But after enactment of mainstreaming laws, society was confronted with the reality of the idea and people soon caught on to its democratic implications

Because politics is a discipline in its own right and discussed in a huge literature, this book only touches upon the subject peripherally For example the roles of lobbyists and other special interest groups are mentioned in Chapter 7 Let it suffice here to merely give some idea of the magnitude of promotion of ideas by government

The U.S government will spend $475 million on advertising in the year 2000 as compared to the

1976 figure of $115 million, according to Gene Secunda, senior vice president, J Walter Thompson

"Government has learned from the advertising profession," he said,

that frequency of exposure in media is vital to getting your given message across and remembered Federal and local governments are using paid advertising more than ever to sell products (the postage stamp campaign for the U.S Postal Service), to sell services (Amtrak's train travel), to recruit personnel (armed forces recruitment advertising) and to promote ideas (the Energy Research and Development Administration's Energy conservation program)" (Marketing News, May 19, 1978)

In all, public and nonprofit expenditures on advertising in the United States are approximated at two billion dollars annually (Rosenberg 1977, p 80) Only 23 organizations, corporate and otherwise, had larger ad budgets in 1979 than the U.S government This poses a question about government domination of the concept sector:

… the growing advertising budgets of federal government agencies do indicate the increasing need to promote ideas and services But this growth may represent social harm, in terms of government monopolizing the marketing of ideas … (which) could have a very dangerous, dampening effect on the free marketplace of ideas and concepts (Novelli 1980b)

The author believes that the concept sector is sufficiently broad to mediate that possibility In a democracy, ideas are infused and spread by so many sponsors, one hopes that although government might be the most prominent, it is not the most controlling or overruling advocate influencing the concept market

Nor can the idea marketer afford to underestimate the importance of involving bureaucrats in the planning of programs Calling government a "neglected cluster of professionals," Wharton (1977) raises the question: The politicians are the persons who must adopt, finance, advocate and defend the policies, programs and projects recommended by scientific and technical professionals Have we neglected the politicians critical role? (p 17)

Most governments engage in the marketing of social products For example it is commonplace to see huge posters in (primarily) socialist countries portraying political leaders in the effort to enhance the nationalist image There too, are posted photos of outstanding conscientious factory workers in campaigns designed to stress productivity in industry for the good of the state These programs also disseminate the state's economic achievements, emphasizing levels of production of critical

materials, such as uranium For another noteworthy example, the Chinese government, with the flip

of a switch, broadcasts to a billion people the admonition that family size should be limited to one child In fact, in many parts of the world one almost perceives more evidence of the marketing of social, economic and cultural items than tangibles

Commercial Firms

Although the majority of idea initiators are public and nonprofit institutions, a study described later in this chapter indicated that about 25% are commercial firms sponsoring ideas quite apart from ideas that underlie their conventional goods or services The present work considers beyond its scope, those ideas about products per se (the "sizzle behind the steak") and instead focuses only on intangibles when they are themselves taken as products Some commercial establishments do espouse ideas that although profit-inspired, are product-independent and thus qualify for inclusion here lf Christian Dior designs a princess style knee-length gown, a new product is launched, but in the process the general idea of knee length dresses is advanced Similarly, Resorts International, Inc could promote either its casino (a service) in Atlantic City or the idea of legalized gambling Oil companies, in what appeared as a strategy of the demarketing of their tangible product, sought to

attain image enhancement by advertising the idea of fuel conservation Indeed all such

"institutional" ads fall within the idea rubric, as by definition they directly promote no products or services but only the good name of the firm, an idea (Sethi 1979)

Until recently business firms in the United States were constrained from voicing their opinions on issues For decades, "commercial speech" was not entitled to the same First Amendment protection

as "political" speech But these restrictions are undergoing liberalization:

From the marketplace of goods and services, corporations of late have begun to push into the marketplace of ideas and are demanding the same rights as everyone else

Last year they scored a major victory when the United States Supreme Court ruled that companies could campaign for or against state referendums (Graham 1979, p A8)

Trade associations, as spokesmen for individual firms within any given industry, constitute a significant portion of the concept sector To the (large) extent that they promote use of the tangible products merchandised by their constituent member firms, they are beyond the scope of this book But some trade associations are sources of ideas only indirectly related to product promotion Many have community affairs and/or public affairs departments Thus the United States Brewers

Association maintains an Alcohol Programs Division fostering responsible use of alcoholic

beverages

What about the employees of an organization supplying ideas and issues? Should they be possessed of a higher level of altruism than their counterparts in commercial enterprises? Because these institutions market idealogically and sociologically oriented products, does it follow that they would require of their personnel a value system differing from that of employees in firms purveying goods and services? Is it safe to assume that by the very nature of the work, one is likely to observe

a greater degree of charity on the part of individuals engaged in the concept sector? It would seem these questions demand positive answers yet there does not appear to be much evidence one way or the other

H O W D O T H E Y M AR K E T ?

One may expect that business organizations apply their experience in commercial marketing to the sponsorship of ideas and issues as well But what about public and nonprofit institutions? In general, how much do idea merchants know about their craft? How, in the first place, do they feel about marketing? How do they do marketing? In order to learn about the nature of marketing as practiced by concept sector institutions, the author conducted a study to ferret out answers to such questions The project took the form of an exploratory survey of a variety of organizations whose principal commonality is their mission to sponsor an impalpable or social product (Fine 1981b)

Study Design

A compendium of social products (see Table 1-1) evolved out of several focus group discussions attended by a team of market research students From this list, items were then allocated to team members who were charged with the task of seeking out institutions sponsoring the specified

concepts Each product was carefully identified by writing it at four designated points in the

questionnaire, once on each page (See Appendix B)

The sample was a "convenience" sample of such organizations They were selected informally;

no systematic methods or randomization were employed to select respondents, except that team members attempted to include both local and national institutions in the study Every effort was made to administer the questionnaires by personal interview In cases where they were mailed, follow-up phone calls were made to those institutions not responding within a few weeks Out of

475 institutions contacted, 222 questionnaires were returned of which 197 were suitable for analysis a usable return rate of 41.5% Others were either returned by post offices as undeliverable, or improperly or incompletely filled out A few institutions were excluded when it became clear from the responses that they promoted not ideas, but goods or services

Survey instrument design was guided generally by the knowledge, attitude, practice (KAP) model familiar to social marketers One seeks information about what respondents know, feel and are doing about a particular topic That model has been applied widely in nutrition and birth control studies and is a useful research guide for many social cause projects In addition to questions asking for descriptive characteristics about the institution, respondents were asked if they had "considered their sponsored idea as a 'product' to be marketed" (never, rarely, sometimes, frequently, or

constantly) Another question asked whether the institution has "a marketing department or

equivalent.” Perceptions were sought relating to organizational goals, terms associated with

marketing, familiarity with and use of marketing concepts and experience with various promotional methods and media The instrument is reproduced in Appendix B

Results of the Study

Frequency analysis results are given in Table 3-1 in separate columns for 49 business firms (25%

of the sample), 89 private nonprofits (45%) and 59 government agencies (30%) More than half (112) of the institutions surveyed had been established over 20 years and had budgets in excess of $1 million Most of the institutions (84%) in the study were main facilities; only 31 out of 197 were branch offices They served a fairly evenly distributed representation of national, regional, state and local jurisdictions The business firms and public agencies in the sample were generally larger than the private nonprofits in terms of number of employees

In all of the three classes of institutions a majority reported they "constantly" considered their designated concepts as products to be marketed On the other hand responses to the "marketing department or equivalent" question varied significantly according to type of institution, with the private sector predominantly positive and the others negative Related to that result and to no one's surprise, was the finding that business firms had larger marketing staffs and indicated more

knowledge of marketing concepts, than their public and nonprofit counterparts Yet in actual

utilization and effectiveness of promotional methods, very little difference seemed apparent between the institutional types

Questions 15 and 16 were intended to capture respondents' perceptions about the primary goal of the organization Aware that an individual could have personal impressions about the organization's goals differing from official policy, each was first asked about his or her own feelings on the matter, just to "clear the air.” Yet, in the final analysis, little difference was found between personal feelings and organizational policy with respect to goals The nine categories of objectives were collapsed into four: a) acquisition of and return on resources, b) survival c) increase and satisfaction of clientele and d) educating the public with existing and new concepts (products) Not surprisingly, goals of private sector firms emphasize resources However a majority of nonprofits (54%) see their principal objective as public education, something true of only 8% of the private firms With public agencies on the other hand, a large number (42%) mirror business firms' concern with resources, as against the goal of education (22%)

If stated objectives are indicative of organizational policy, it appears that public and nonprofit institutions share a pattern of disdain for their clients In fact, even business firms place client satisfaction second to resource conservation as a main objective That less than 20% of public and nonprofit institutions and only 33% of the firms consider their principal goal to be satisfying

customers, is one of the sadder findings of this study It highlights the need for a marketing

approach to concept dissemination But the objective of survival fared worst of all, making the poorest showing with public and nonprofit organizations and ranking second to last with private

firms as well It appears that the concept sector is a society of the here and now! (See the discussion

in Chapter 4 relating to "encore" products.)